An Iron Painter’s Quest 2016, Episode 1: And So It Begins…

Yesterday at 7:15 AM the theme for the first round of Wyrd’s Iron Painter 2016 painting competition was announced, so once again my quest to be called Iron Painter has begun…

I had so much fun with my series of blog posts chronicling my journey through the Iron Painter competition in 2015 that I’m excited to bring back my “An Iron Painter’s Quest” series. Follow along with me as I attempt to once again finish a worthy entry in every round and hopefully even win a prize along the way.

For those not familiar with Iron Painter, it’s an annual painting contest run by Wyrd Miniatures; this contest varies from most painting contests as it has multiple rounds, each with a theme, and all of the entrants are paired off in head-to-head match-ups. The winner of each pair advances to the next round and the last painter standing at the end of all rounds is crowned the victor. Competitors are encouraged to complete entries for each round, even if they have been eliminated, and any painter who manages to complete an entry every single round receives special recognition–the coveted title of Iron Painter!

Iron Painter is running a little bit differently this year that in previous years–painters will be placed into three tiers based off of their scores for their first round piece, the top 16 into the Gold Tier, the next 16 into the Silver Tier, and everyone else who completed a piece into the Bronze Tier (no more first round eliminations!). For each round after that, painters will be paired off head-to-head with another painter in their tier; the losing painter in each match-up will drop to the tier below them for the next round. Those who lose once they are in the Bronze Tier are eliminated from the competition, but still encouraged to complete an entry every round. Winners from each tier will all receive glorious prizes! The way the numbers shake out, there will be 1 Gold winner (and 1 runner-up), 4 Silver winners, and 17 Bronze winners. There are also prizes other than the title of Iron Painter available to those who complete an entry in all five rounds. All this means that there are a lot of prizes on the table and incentive for everyone to stick around in the competition longer. It’s so exciting!

With all that said, I now unveil to you the theme for the first round of Iron Painter 2016: Pretty in Pink

Unlike many of the themes from last year, I was able to start coming up with ideas and plans for my piece as soon as I read the theme. I quickly figured out which local shops had the models I need in stock and what I needed to order online; I’ll be stopping by a craft store on my way home from work today to pick up the last of the materials I need and then it’s off to the races on my entry! I even managed to get a bit of work done on some of the elements of my piece, so here’s a look at that:

Artistic lens flair on the box from whence my models shall come!

My lovely ladies.

I’ll fill you all in on the full idea and layout for my piece once I have all of the necessary pieces in hand so that I can do a full mock-up. Check back soon for more updates!